Animals, including ruminants and poultry, are important sources of human food, consumer products (e.g., leather and feathers), and in some cases, work power. Ruminants are mammals that digest plant-based food by chewing food multiple times. Ruminants acquire nutrients by a process where food is initially chewed, swallowed, partially softened, regurgitated, chewed again, and then digested. Ruminants include cattle, goats, sheep, giraffes, yaks, deer, camels, llamas, antelope, and other related animals. Poultry are domesticated birds kept to produce eggs, meat, and sometimes feathers.
For the agricultural industry and farmers, body mass for such livestock and poultry is important. The body mass of any given animal is affected both by digestive absorption and metabolic uptake of nutrients as well as disease conditions from which such animals may suffer. Animals may also suffer from poor nutrition due to the presence of heavy metals in their bodies.
Coccidiosis is a condition caused by parasitic organisms of the Eimeria species of microorganisms. Coccidiosis can be a costly problem in livestock and poultry in that in early infestations the damage to the epithelial cells on the walls of the small intestine reduces the absorption of nutrients. Later, heavy infestations can result in permanent damage to the lining of the small intestine, anemia from blood loss from the damaged lining, and death if the infestation is severe enough.
In livestock, poultry, and other animals, ingestion of heavy metals present in the environment (e.g., in grazing pastures or water sources) can cause negative health effects both for the animal and for consumers who may ingest such animals. Heavy metals include aluminum, nickel, copper, iron, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, selenium, lead, and other heavy metals. The presence of heavy metals in an animal may affect uptake of nutritional minerals by the animal's body.
For example, selenium is a necessary, yet potentially dangerous, mineral for livestock. Selenium can increase lactation and health. Selenium typically has a narrow tolerance between deficiency and toxicity. When added to a composition, careful regulation may be important to control the quantity of the selenium in a composition.
Selenium may be found naturally by ruminants and other animals through foraging or other measures. Some areas of the U.S. and throughout the world are selenium deficient. For example, most of the northeastern and northwestern states have significant selenium deficiencies and supplementation may become necessary. Additionally, in some areas, such as the western states, soil selenium levels are sufficiently high that producers occasionally see symptoms of selenium toxicity in livestock.
Generally, dairy farmers, ranchers and keepers of ruminants and other animals are unaware of the level of selenium on their land and in the feed consumed by their livestock. However, improper amounts of selenium at a location may become apparent. For example, experiences with livestock eating either too much or too little selenium may produce livestock losses from either resulting condition.
Modern dairy cows are expected to produce tremendous amounts of milk to meet the demands of the world's growing population. High milk yield is only possible when good management is matched with good genetics. Formulating a ration to meet the needs of the cows in the herd depends on knowledge of many factors including body size, stage of lactation, level of production, and stage of gestation. This process may be made more complicated when the cow's appetite or capacity for feed intake is below the level that is needed to maintain her body, produce milk, and grow. Energy intake is usually less than energy requirements. In this stage, cows can experience a negative energy balance, meaning that the cow must use her body's stored nutrients to meet her milk production requirements. Cows in this stage of lactation typically lose weight and deteriorate in body condition.
If a cow calves without sufficient body reserves or body condition to make up for this negative energy balance, milk production may suffer. On the other hand, care may need to be taken to ensure a cow does not become overweight before she calves. The ideal feeding program may allow feeding each cow individually according to its specific needs. However, individualized feeding regimens may be difficult or impossible due to the difficulty in monitoring day-to-day changes in nutrient requirements for each cow and may be impractical from a labor and cost perspective due to the expense and manpower required to feed each cow individually. Instead, many farmers group feed cows according to their stage of lactation and level of milk production. While grouping strategies vary depending on herd size and the available facilities, three groups of lactating cows and two groups of dry cows is one common illustrative grouping strategy.
Early lactation of ruminants, such as cows, will now be discussed. The composition may facilitate early lactation in cows in a first period, before peak lactation. Ruminants, such as cows, can experience negative impacts on lactation during this period due to a negative energy balance. This period from calving to peak lactation is the most critical stage of lactation for a dairy cow. Every additional pound of peak milk production may result in about a 100 pound increase in milk production over an entire lactation, without limitation.
Mammals including ruminants need glucose for the synthesis of milk. In addition to secreting bile, the liver plays an important role in converting certain absorbed nutrients into compounds that are more useful to the animal. One example is the conversion of propionate and lactate absorbed from a rumen into glucose. The ruminant, such as a cow, needs glucose for the synthesis of milk. A ruminant also needs glucose for use by its brain and central nervous system, but often does not absorb a sufficient amount of glucose necessary for health plus milk production. The liver synthesizes nearly all of the glucose needed by the cow every day through gluconeogenesis. The liver may also convert absorbed fatty acids into forms better suited for transport through blood and use by the tissues, and may convert absorbed ammonia into the less toxic compound urea. Liver protective effects are associated with mastic gum ingestion. Mastic gum taken daily decreases levels of certain liver enzymes compared to initial levels, which is an indicator of better liver health.
Nutrient absorption will now be discussed in greater detail. Absorption of minerals primarily occurs within the small intestines. As food matter passes through the intestines, minerals transfer into the blood stream through the walls of the intestines by way of the villi. Often, these minerals are in an ionic form. Although stomach acid helps to ionize the minerals in foods, a mineral supplement can contain naturally ionized minerals that can be fully or nearly fully absorbed by the animal. Certain trace minerals may exist in relationship to one another so that, for example, excess amounts of one trace mineral can lead to imbalances in others. Optimal absorption of most trace minerals occurs when such minerals pass into the intestine in ionic form.
Calcium is another essential nutrient, being required for proper contraction of muscles in livestock. Severe hypocalcaemia prevents skeletal muscle contractions so that, if left untreated, the clinical syndrome known as milk fever may occur. Muscle contraction may be reduced by a decrease in blood calcium. Contraction rate and strength of the smooth muscle of the intestinal tract of a ruminant may be directly proportional to blood calcium concentration.
Milk fever is generally associated with the day of calving but many cows may remain with subclinical hypocalcaemia for about the first week of lactation. For proper muscle contraction and relaxation to occur, magnesium and calcium should be present in proper amounts in the body, which can be difficult to achieve even on a standard healthy diet for livestock. Intracellular calcium concentration also plays a role in the function of immune cell receptors.
The essential oil of mastic gum (Pistacia lentiscus var. chia) has been shown to exhibit anti-microbial properties on gram positive and gram negative bacteria in broth and in model food systems. The addition of mastic gum in broth culture inoculated with Staphylococcus aureus, Lactobacillus plantarum, Pseudomonas fragi, and Salmonella enteritidis may inhibit the growth of these organisms. The rate of inhibition may be greater on gram positive bacteria than on gram negative bacteria. In most cases, the size of inoculum and the concentration of mastic gum affect the growth/survival of the organisms.
Proper and efficient digestion and metabolization of protein is important to the health of animals, including ruminants and poultry. Proteins are composed of amino acids, which contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. Some amino acids also contain sulfur in addition to the foregoing elements. Twenty-two amino acids are known to exist in nature. Amino acids bonded together in different combinations form the various types of proteins.
Proteins have many different functions in the body. They are important structural components of many tissues, and can be found in muscle, skin, feathers, hair, bone, fingernails, muscle tissues, other tissues, and blood. Several hormones are proteins, including insulin and bovine somatotropin. The enzymes important in digestion, absorption, and metabolism are all proteins.
Enzymes secreted by the abomasum, pancreas and small intestine can break the bonds between amino acids to separate the amino acids and allow them to be absorbed by an animal's body. Proteins typically must be broken down into their component amino acids before absorption. Amino acids can be divided into two groups: essential and non-essential. Essential amino acids are not produced by the body, and therefore, must be obtained through the animal's diet. Nonessential amino acids are produced by cells and do not need to be present in the animal's diet.
The essential amino acids include phenylalanine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, tryptophan, valine, arginine, and threonine. In dairy rations, lysine and methionine are the most common limiting amino acids, because common feeds (e.g., corn, corn silage, and soybean meal) are relatively low in these amino acids compared to the quantities needed for milk synthesis. Fish meal and blood meal are good sources of lysine, while corn gluten meal, fish meal, and sunflower meal are good sources of methionine. Creating feed rations using small amounts of these protein supplements in addition to standard ingredients may increase milk protein yield and reduce nitrogen excretion in urine. The higher the productivity of an animal, typically the greater need for undegradable protein versus degradable protein. More common feed ingredients include proteins that are generally more degradable.
What is needed is a composition meeting nutritional requirements of an animal, such as a ruminant or poultry. What is needed is lower feed costs for the nutrients provided to an animal. What is needed is a composition to facilitate increased reproductive performance of an animal, such as a ruminant or poultry. What is needed is a composition to improve egg production from an animal. What is needed is a composition to facilitate increased milk protein yield by a lactating animal, such as a ruminant. What is needed is a composition to minimize nitrogen excretion from an animal. What is needed is a composition to induce early lactation for an animal, such as a ruminant.